Information displays are the primary medium through which text
and images generated by computer and other electronic systems
are delivered to end-users. While early computer systems were
designed and used for tasks that involved little interactions
between the user and the computer, today's graphical and multimedia
information and computing environments require information displays
that have higher performance, smaller size and lower cost.

The market
for display technologies also has been stimulated by the increasing
popularity of hand-held computers, personal digital assistants
and cellular phones; interest in simulated environments and augmented
reality systems; and the recognition that an improved means of
connecting people and machines can increase productivity and enhance
the enjoyment of electronic entertainment and learning experiences.

For decades,
the cathode ray tube has been the dominant display device. The
cathode ray tube creates an image by scanning a beam of electrons
across a phosphor-coated screen, causing the phosphors to emit
visible light. The beam is generated by an electron gun and is
passed through a deflection system that scans the beam rapidly
left to right and top to bottom, a process called Rastering. A
magnetic lens focuses the beam to create a small moving dot on
the phosphor screen. It is these rapidly moving spots of light
("pixels") that raster or "paint" the image
on the surface of the viewing screen. Flat panel displays are
enjoying widespread use in portable computers, calculators and
other personal electronics devices. Flat panel displays can consist
of hundreds of thousands of pixels, each of which is formed by
one or more transistors acting on a crystalline material.

In recent
years, as the computer and electronics industries have made substantial
advances in miniaturization, manufacturers have sought lighter
weight, lower power and more cost-effective displays to enable
the development of smaller portable computers and other electronic
devices. Flat panel technologies have made meaningful advances
in these areas. Both cathode ray tubes and flat panel display
technologies, however, pose difficult engineering and fabrication
problems for more highly miniaturized, high-resolution displays
because of inherent constraints in size, weight, cost and power
consumption. In addition, both cathode ray tubes and flat panel
display are difficult to see outdoors or in other setting where
the ambient light is brighter than the light emitted from the
screen. Display mobility is also limited by size, brightness and
power consumption.

As display technologies attempt to keep pace with miniaturization
and other advances in information delivery systems, conventional
cathode ray tube and flat panel technologies will no longer be
able to provide an acceptable range of performance characteristics,
particularly the combination of high resolution, high level of
brightness and low power consumption, required for state-of-the-art
mobile computing or personal electronic devices.